The Peaceful Sleeper

Let me just start by saying – I get it. I totally get how busy and hectic the lives of parents are.

You may not have the capacity to change how you are doing bedtime on the weekdays. Or maybe you have a consistent bedtime routine on weekdays but on weekends things are more relaxed and by putting your toddler to bed later there is the hope they will sleep in later. What I’m saying is, you may have reasons for why your bedtime routine looks different on the weekends that works for YOUR family. OR maybe your toddler’s sleep is just fine with inconsistent bedtime routines

That being said, this study could be helpful if you are concerned about your toddler’s sleep and you have inconsistent bedtime routines on the weekdays vs the weekends.

The participants of this study were 185 typically developing toddlers who were 30 months old (and their caregivers).

This study references other studies regarding children’s sleep and mentions:
✨ Inconsistencies in sleep schedules is linked to lower sleep quality and behavioral problems
✨ Children with inconsistent sleep schedules take longer to fall asleep at night, and sleep less on weekends
✨ Inconsistent sleep schedules are associated with more hyperactivity and internalizing behavior problems

In this study, “daily reports of the nightly bedtime routines and several sleep measures were averaged across a two week reporting period to explore overall relations between bedtime routines and sleep outcomes, and then daily reports were analyzed individually to examine within-night relations between bedtime routines and sleep outcomes.”

The results suggested that “...keeping consistent bedtime routines between weeknights and weekends is important for optimal sleep outcomes.”

What are your thoughts on this study?
Does your family tend to have a different bedtime routine on the weekends vs the weekdays? Does it work for your family, or does this study influence you to try making a change?

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you what one thing you didn’t have on your registry that you wish you did, and your responses were AMAZING! 🙌

Today, I’m sharing the top 15 baby registry must-haves sourced straight from YOU! 💕

Here’s a sneak peek of 5 favorites—head to the blog to see the full list.

✨ Comment “BRMHBLOG” below, and I’ll send you the link! 👇🫶

Anyone else feeling this with school starting back up?! 🙋🏼‍♀️

All kidding aside, it can really be tough to get sleep back on track after a long holiday and/or traveling. Give yourself grace and know that you CAN get sleep back on track.

And as always, we are here to help!
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In this study about the value of bedtime routine, 405 mothers and their children (ages 7-36 months) participated. In order to participate, all children had an identified “sleep problem” according to their mother.

Families were assigned to either the routine group or the control group. The routine group had a 3 step nightly routine (bath, massage/lotion, quiet activity (e.g., cuddling, lullabies) and lights out 30 min after bath.

How the child was put to bed was dependent on what method was usually used (e.g., put down awake, rocked to sleep, etc.) so the bedtime routine was the only “change”.

Methods used were the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ), a daily sleep diary, as well as the Profile of Mood States (POMS).

The results found that not only did multiple aspects of infant and toddler’s sleep improve, but
“Significant improvements for mothers of infants in the routine group were found for all subscales of the POMS, including tension, depression, anger, fatigue, vigor, and confusion, P < 0.001. For mothers of toddlers in the routine group, there were significant improvements in tension, anger, fatigue, and confusion P < 0.001.”

A simple bedtime routine that works for your family can be a great way to improve your little one’s sleep and it could also have a positive impact on your mental health!

I’d love to hear from you in the comments: what are some aspects of a bedtime routine that make it great?

Nothing gives a toddler more FOMO than bedtime. I mean everything cool happens RIGHT after they go to bed, right?

The key to success is to avoid a power struggle. This means getting comfortable with what you actually have control over and what you don’t.

You can’t MAKE them go to sleep, but you can focus on setting boundaries about what bedtime looks like. Create and communicate an expectation and then reinforce that boundary with consistency.

Did you know I have a 2-5 Years Content Library, FULL of ways to maintain boundaries with your toddler while still honoring their individual personalities?

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PS - rocks!!🥇🥳🐐

Navigating the world of baby sleep myths can be overwhelming. Black-and-white statements like this not only create confusion but can also lead to unnecessary stress for parents!

This week on the blog, I bust some of the most common baby sleep myths and provide practical, non-judgmental sleep tips for your little one. Discover the truth about feeding, sleep training, bonding, and more! 🙌

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How do you achieve the perfect 6 month old sleep schedule?

The key is learning what YOUR baby’s sleep needs are!

It’s so important to remember that the sleep needs of one baby are going to be different from another baby, even if they are the same age. This is because every baby is different and there is no “one-size-fit’s-all” approach to baby sleep.

These example schedules may help give you a sense of where to start! 🙌

At 6 months there are a lot of factors at play: teething, rolling, the 6 month sleep regression, high sleep needs, low sleep needs and more!

If you are aiming for a predictable schedule but could use some individual support, reach out! We can hop on a 30 or 60 minute call with you to help figure out the best sleep schedule for your little one.

🌟 Comment “SLEEP HELP” to check out all consultation options. 👇💕

I talk a lot about the benefits of low angle sunlight on sleep, so I thought this would be a fitting study to share!

This study compared office workers in windowless environments with office workers in workplaces with significantly more daylight.

The well-being, sleep quality, light exposure, activity level, and sleep-wake patterns of the workers were all measured using different methods.

The study concluded that office workspaces should place more emphasis on ensuring workers have sufficient daylight exposure in order to promote their health and well-being.

The takeaway here is that if you want to improve the quality and duration of you or your baby’s sleep, getting outside and soaking up natural daylight is a great place to start!

Have you ever noticed that you or your little ones sleep better when you spend more time outside in the sun?

Caring for a sick baby can be incredibly stressful. Not only are they uncomfortable, but their disrupted sleep can totally exacerbate their discomfort. 😭

This week on the blog, I go over 5 must-know tips to help you navigate your baby’s sleep during times of sickness:

1️⃣ Understanding The Importance of Independent Sleep Skills
2️⃣ Offering Comfort When Needed
3️⃣ Managing Smaller vs. Bigger Illnesses
4️⃣ Adapting to Their Increased Sleep Needs
5️⃣ Getting Sleep Back on Track

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Hard to choose, but I’m going to have to go with “getting up early.”

Not being able to sleep when you need to sleep is just NOT ok!

Now, I can’t magically give you the promise of never having to wake up early with your kids again, but I CAN help teach your little ones independent sleep skills and give you all the tips and tricks to extend morning wake ups, so you have more energy to focus on the “acting like you know what you’re doing” part 🤪

If you are wanting more restorative sleep and later morning wake ups, have a look at my 4-24 months content library! AND you can try it RISK-FREE!

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We hear all the time that sleep is important. Not just for children, but for adults too.

In this review of 10 studies from 2005-2015, it was determined that all the studies supported the critical role that sleep plays in the cognitive and physical growth of infants.

In fact, the national sleep foundation uses scientific research to create guidelines around the recommended hours of sleep by age.

So, how can you help your little one get the sleep they need?

It starts with being educated on infant sleep and feeling empowered to know how to help your baby sleep.

Wherever you are in your sleep journey, I would love to help! My mission is to be a guide and support to other Mamas, both from a mental health standpoint and from a practical “let’s get everyone the sleep they need and deserve” standpoint.

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If you are experiencing frequent night wakings, that might be a sign that some things need to be adjusted. First, we need to tackle the cause of the night wakings

⭐️ Overtiredness. Have you ever heard that keeping your baby up longer will cause them to sleep more? It’s actually the opposite!

⭐️ Daytime sleep struggles. This could mean too much or too little daytime sleep. If baby is getting much daytime sleep, it could be time to drop a nap. If your baby is in the stage of crap naps, try your best to extend them. Our goal is to have naps between 1-3 hours.

⭐️ Initiating independent sleep. This is our goal when it comes to sleep training! When baby can fall asleep independently not only does it take a little stress off of you, night wakings tend to naturally drop on their own since your baby knows exactly how to handle them. Woohooooo!!! 🙌

⭐️ Hunger. When it comes to night feeds our goal is to find out if baby is truly hungry or waking out of habit … which can be a challenge at times. Try your best to get good, full feedings during the day so baby can reach their goal caloric intake during those daytime hours. It is completely normal to have at least one night feed until around 9 months but if you are not ready to drop those night feedings that is totally okay too. You know your baby best!

More details on the blog!
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Today feels like a meditation session - followed by a long (uninterrupted!) cozy nap kind of day for me! 😜

It can be too easy to put yourself last when you are a busy mom (and what mom ISN’T a “busy” mom?!?!)

It’s so important to remember, though, that the best thing you can be for your children, is WELL! This means taking care of yourself and prioritizing your needs too.🙌🏻

So, use this as today’s reminder to do something for YOU today! ❤️

Tag a Mama who could use this gentle reminder as well, and let me know in the comments which one you’re choosing? 👇

This study consisted of 53 infants and their mothers. The daylong audio recordings of 13 month old infants in their home environment were captured, coded, and analyzed.

The study found that infants who produced more canonical vocalizations (canonical means a vocalization that contains at least one syllable and has a consonant and vowel - for example, “ba”) and received more adult like-sound responses (mimicking the vocalization [ie. “ba”], responding with a like-sounding real word [ie. “ball”] or expanding [ie. “Yes, that is a big red ball”]) had higher productive vocabularies.

Interesting insights into how our vocal exchanges with our infants are related to their early vocabulary development!

What were your baby’s first canonical vocalizations?

There’s a fine line between support and unwelcome advice, that’s for sure!

A little tip I have found with navigating your “village” is to advocate for your needs. It’s ok to ask for help, and it’s also ok to ask for space or to set boundaries.

If your village is really your village, they will get it, and still be your village. ❤️

How important is sleep?

✨ We need sleep to think clearly
✨ We need sleep to be vigilant and alert
✨ We need sleep to sustain attention
✨ We need sleep to regulate our emotions

When you are not getting the sleep you need, you often are not aware of the toll it is taking on your cognitive functioning.

“Inadequate sleep also can take a toll on psychological well-being, significantly affecting our emotional and psychosocial interpretation of events and exacerbating our stress levels.”

This is a summary from ONE article on the importance of sleep. There are SO many other studies and experts who research the importance of sleep.

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I personally and professionally believe that good sleep changes EVERYTHING.

When we are not getting the sleep we need, we are not our best selves. And it can negatively impact everyone in our family.

It’s never too late to improve sleep habits and every one (babies and adults included) can get better sleep!

I have SO many resources with science-based tips and tricks to get your baby (and you!) the sleep they need. 🙌

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4 months is a busy time! 🙌

From the 4 month sleep regression, to getting ready for sleep learning there’s a lot going on – and it’s also the time most babies transition from 4 naps to 3 naps.

If you are starting sleep learning, then the transition usually happens naturally. Naps start to lengthen and there just isn’t enough time for a 4th nap.

If you are not starting sleep learning and naps are still short, then you can still experiment with lengthening the wake windows slightly, but also be careful not to cause overtiredness.

Looking for tips on how to optimize sleep during the 3-4 month marathon? Grab my Newborn Course!
Comment “NEWB” and I’ll send you the link. 👇💕

This is mostly true for the Pi Sigma Omega Omega Lawler house, although we pretty much have the sleep part under control 😏

But don’t let my bragging cause you any jealousy! You can totally have a disaster-zone-yet-sleep-filled fraternity house!

I have SO many resources with science-based tips and tricks to get your baby (and you!) the sleep they need. 🙌

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I got you!! 😉🫶

We all know that every aspect of our babies’ health and well-being is important – one area that often goes unnoticed is the presence of a lip tie.

Understanding how to spot a lip tie can help you seek appropriate care and ensure your baby is getting good, full feeds, isn’t sucking in too much air, and you are comfortable (breastfeeding mamas) too. 🙌

⭐️ Please remember that I am NOT the expert on oral ties. This is just what I know.

In this week’s blog, I go over
✨ What is a Lip Tie?
✨ Why Does Proper Latching Matter?
✨ How do I Spot a Lip Tie?
✨ What About a Tongue Tie?
✨ Who Should I Talk to if I Think My Baby Might Have a Lip or Tongue Tie?

⭐️ Comment “LTBLOG” and I’ll send you the link! 👇💕

One more time for the people in the back: sleep begets sleep! 📣📣📣

In this study, data was analyzed from the questionnaires of 1,075 pairs of one month old infants and their mothers. The study found that nighttime sleep duration was positively associated with their daytime sleep duration.

This means that if you can get your little one to take solid naps, then they are more likely to have good sleep at night.

With newborns, this means watching for sleepy cues and keeping wake windows to 60-90 minutes (and up to 1.5 hours before bed). Preventing overtiredness is the key to getting your baby to sleep easily and having them take restorative naps!

For everything you need to know about naps, extending nighttime sleep and getting great newborn sleep, grab my newborn course!

Comment “”NEWB” and I”ll send you the link. 👇❤️

Dropping naps is an ongoing process with your little one that continues into the toddler years.

It can feel like as soon as you finally get their schedule figured out and perfected, it’s time to change it up again! 🫠

Remember that every baby is different, and therefore every baby has their own sleep needs.

Tweak this guide as you learn what your baby’s individual sleep needs are! 🙌

Have you recently dropped a nap, or are you grearing up to drop one soon?

✨Comment “DROPNAPSBLOG” and I’ll send you a link to a blog post that has everything you’ll need to know when it’s time to drop your baby’s next nap! 👇💕

Who else could use a little private grocery store vacation right about now 🙋‍♀️

Motherhood is TOUGH. It’s demanding, and exhausting, but also so rewarding.

Whether it’s drinking your coffee while it’s still actually warm, taking time to do your self-care routine, or finding a little time to get outside, do one thing today to treat yourself!

What’s your go-to way to unwind? Let me know in the comments! 👇💕

A very common question I get asked is if newborns need to nap in a dark space.

The answer is no. 🙌 In fact, napping in a brighter and “busier” space, but having nighttime sleep in a dark and quiet space, can help your newborn orient day and night.

This is from a cross-sectional study over 1 year, where data collected from 1,075 infant and mother pairs was analyzed.

Mothers were asked to answer a questionnaire to provide information about the infant and it was determined that at one month old, the brightness of the infant’s bedroom during the day did not affect nighttime sleep duration.

The bonus is that this means you can nap your newborn “on the go” and feel confident that it won’t affect their nighttime sleep.

I generally recommend starting to think about some naps being in a quiet and dark space, after about one month.

Want to know all the ways to orient day and night, and how to help your newborn get great sleep?! Check out my Newborn Video Course. It is the most comprehensive and robust newborn sleep resource out there!

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It’s super super common for a newborn’s bedtime to be between 10:00 and 11:00 pm. This is because their first stretch of sleep is usually the longest. Ideally, you’d have their bedtime when YOU are ready to go to bed so that you can capitalize on those 4-6 hour nighttime sleep stretches.

However, once our babies hit about three months, they start to become much more ready for an earlier bedtime. 🙌

This week on the blog, I go over these four quick and easy tips and strategies for bumping your little one’s bedtime earlier!

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Or answer the phone…

Or open a snack for herself…

Am I right?! 🫠🤣

How do you know you’re indispensable to every member of your family??

A super interesting study about sleep duration in one month olds!

I hope everyone knows that if I had the power to make sure every baby was born in the spring, I most certainly would! 😉🤣

I’d love to hear your thoughts. When was your baby born, and would you say this is accurate for your baby at one month?

The 3 month sleep regression often marks the beginning of “crap naps” 😭

The good news is, here are things you can do to optimize sleep, and once you hit the 4 month mark, all that hard work will pay off and sleep learning will be a lot easier!

🌟 For perfectly timed tips sent straight to you, comment “FREE SLEEP” 👇💕

Let me know in the comments- where are you at with the good old sleep regressions?

We can’t control the leaf blowing neighbors, but we CAN help your baby get the sleep they need! 🤣🙌💤

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I got you!! 😉🫶

Postpartum depression is something that I have struggled with in the past.

Although everyone’s postpartum journey with mental health is different, I want other Mama’s to know that they are definitely not alone.

I try and bring awareness to struggles in motherhood and support parents with sleep, as my passion is helping families enjoy parenthood to its fullest.

As stated in the academic text,
symptoms of PPD include depressed mood, loss of interest, changes in sleep patterns, change in appetite, feelings of worthlessness, inability to concentrate, and suicidal ideation.

Postpartum Depression can lead to “poor maternal-infant bond, failure of breastfeeding, negative parenting practices, marital discord, as well as worse outcomes concerning child physical and psychological development. The remission of symptoms will reduce the risk of behavioral and psychiatric problems in the offspring.”

This is one of the many reasons why I advocate so strongly for Mamas to get the resources and help they deserve. This can look like therapy and/or medications.

It’s also important to know that postpartum depression affects not only the mother, but it can also affect the partner, and baby. 👇

✨ “Mother: It can lead to chronic depressive disorder if not treated on time. Even if treated, PPD can be a risk for future episodes of major depression.

✨ Father: This can be a precipitating factor for depression in the father as this will be a stressful event for the entire family.

✨ Infant: Children of mothers who have untreated depression can develop behavioral and emotional problems. More commonly seen are delays in language development. They can also suffer from sleeping problems, eating difficulties, excessive crying, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”

Again, please know that if this is something you are struggling with, you are not alone, and I so hope you are able to access the resources you need and deserve. ❤️

You’re simultaneously a chef, chauffeur, referee, therapist, and more… It’s no wonder many mamas find themselves feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and drained, struggling to keep their heads above water while balancing their needs with those of their family.

Here’s the good news! Thriving in motherhood IS possible! This week on the blog, I go over these five principles and more to help you get from stuck to thriving. 🙌

These principles are NOT about perfection, but about progress and self-compassion. Motherhood is a journey filled with ups and downs but with the right tools and mindset, I promise you can create a fulfilling, joyful experience for yourself and your family. You deserve to thrive in motherhood! ❤️

🌟 Comment “THRIVEBLOG” and I’ll send you the link to the blog post. 👇💕